Does the personal data harvesting on search engines media websites accurately define what we do and who we are? What do the selections on your newsfeed say about you?

I was just looking at some political bios – Honest!

Yes and no. There are many things I’ve searched for that were to help someone else out that’s completely unrelated to my own interests (apparently butthole mouths are among them now). There are some things I’m interested in that I don’t really search for. I’ve also clicked on articles/videos I vehemently disagree with from garbage sources in order to refute them.

So there’s going to be a fair amount of muddy data. Also I wonder how accurate the association of one account with another is. They try to match things using IP addresses, email addresses, phone numbers, cookies, etc. but I have to image it’s probably very common to link up the wrong accounts.

Good points.

I think when it comes to the randomness that naturally comes with being human, the algorythms tech companies use to track us online do us wrong in feeding us what they think we need to know.

[But] understanding anuses is worth the effort ;)

Google News regularly sends me recommended news stories. This is what I’ve got right now. For you. Recommended based on your interests.

Woman’s shock as car stolen from “quiet” Dundee Street.

Body found in River Clyde in early hours of Hogmanay.

Scotland’s target of 100% electricity generated from renewables missed.

As it turns out I’m not much interested in any of these articles, unlike yours which are mesmerising. Spotify does a much better job of selecting music I like.

I’m sure whatever algorithms they use for this are quite confused by my search behavior.